Rescue the Barista

size of him and the scar down the side of his face, but also the fact that Vito trails in behind him.
Julius gives me a hug and wishes me Merry Christmas. He has a nice piece of Italian cheese for me, which is lovely, but I’m still wary. Then, without too much encouragement from Julius, Vito steps forward with a wooden crate.
Putting the crate on the table he says, “I want to hand it to you, Jamie. You’re one tough fucking lady. Give you your due. No fucking lie.” Julius throws a scowl like thunder at him. He’s about to apologize, but I hold up a hand.
“It’s okay, Julius. It’s good of Vito to come by and say that.”
“No,” Vito says, “That ain’t it. I come to say that I’m sorry, okay? I was wrong, I shouldn’t have given you all of that shit.”
And he blinks and flattens his chin. “So, I brought you a case of wine to say sorry, and Happy Christmas.”
I’m touched. I move forward and give him a hug. We chink glasses of mulled wine.
“I hope you can put it behind us,” he says, “But I’ll understand if you can’t.”
“Vito,” I tell him, “I can’t say that we’ll be close friends, but we don’t need to be enemies.” And he even thanks me nicely.
I’m about ready to close up when I see Massimo at the door.
“I just wanted to say how badly I felt about what happened,” he tells me. I give him mulled wine and tell him not to worry.
He tells me, “The company’s giving a bottle of Grappa to all of what it calls its ‘best customers.’ They sent one for you,” he says, “I kept yours.”
“Oh,” I laugh, uncertain what to make of it.
“Yeah. That shit they’re handing out, it tastes like fucking engine oil. I don’t know what I’ll do with your bottle. But I brought you something better.” He puts a bottle on the counter. “This is the real thing. I bought it myself in Tuscany.”
We all toast with the last of the mulled wine.
As I’m closing up the shop, Angelo urges me. “We have to get back to my apartment, like now. Our home, baby.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“If you think I’m going to let Christmas go by without you unwrapping a hot surprise, I’ve got news for you, little bad barista.”
“Well, I’ve got news for you Mr. Mobster. There are three of us here, so you’d better be careful. By next Christmas, in fact a little sooner than that, there are going to be three of us out in the light.”
“What?”
“Yup. One of us is staying hidden for the winter. And some of fall.”
He hugs me so tight I feel like he’s going to crush me. Then, immediately he lets go.
“Woah!” and he takes my packages and holds my arm at the elbow.
“I’m pregnant, you idiot, not senile or geriatric.”
“Well, whatever. You really are going to have to let me take care of you now.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
The End
~~ I hope you enjoyed Angelo and Jamie’s story ~~
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